trust worthy bmw dealership/mechanic?
 

EDIT: in case people don't spot the post: A big thank you to Tim (Dinan3) and Hossein at Brian Jessel BMW, who sorted out all the mechanical issues I had with the vehicle.

Hi everyone, the following post might be quite a read so bear with me, I'll put a coles notes at the bottom:

I picked up my M3 DCT Sedan a few weeks ago, but I've been having some minor issues. The car is a US import, with 2 owners. I had first brought my vehicle to BMW Store Burrard when my car threw a service engine light and increased emissions warning.

However, they just cleared the codes, said my battery needed replacing, charged me for an hour of labor and to top it off damaged my car while on their lot. Urban garage who I purchased the vehicle from ran further tests on the battery and it turned out to be perfectly fine.

Also, since the first day I had the car I noticed some erratic revving behaviour in the vehicle only in first gear. Normally the vehicle is supposed to sound like this going through the revs:

NORMAL

As you can see under normal conditions it revs smoothly, however when I drive aggressively in first gear the car exhibits a strange revving behaviour upwards of 4000rpm. This occurs only intermittently and I can't for the life of me figure out what's causing it, it pretty much sounds like this video below, but imagine in motion in 1st gear say rolling onto the throttle at 4000rpm up to redline. The blips/brap noises usually have 1 to 3 in quick succession.

WHAT I EXPERIENCE

I took it into the guys at Nixon Automotive for a quick preliminary diagnosis, and they said that they've never seen/heard anything like that before. I have an appointment for this coming friday, but its mostly going to be a blind hunt as no one knows really what they're looking for.

I've read that a service engine light and increased emissions warning are indicative of a faulty o2 sensor, but I was wondering if anyone had any insights into my issue, and/or could suggest a good bmw mechanic to get it checked out.




--SIDE note--- regarding bmw store
To top it off I requested that they do not wash my car as I had just had a 2 stage cut/polish detail job done on the car, but of course my service advisor Garrett Gratton decided to forget that request and run it through the machine wash resulting in scratches all over.

Of course I was not too happy about this turn of events, but the car damage was their word against mine, and Garrett apologized profusely regarding the car wash error. Unfortunately, my car left the dealership dirtier and with a plethora of scratches and dings. I called hiim later in the day expressing how upset I was that he had ruined an excellent detail job, and he asked me how he could make it right.

I told him that, I would only be satisfied with having a detail job done on my car by a detailer of my selection. At the time he informed me that his manager Corin would be the only person who could authorize such actions and she was out of town.

When Corin finally did get into town, she called back while I was in an important meeting, and left a voice mail informing me that the best she could do is have my car detailed by a detailer the BMW store Burrard works with, and to call her if I would like to speak on the matter further. Of course I promptly called back and was informed she was with a customer. When I called back 3 hours later, I was told she was still with yet another customer. So I asked how long would it be until she was available, and was told she'd be available in 15 minutes. Upon calling back 15 minutes I was informed that she is still busy and would definately call me back before the end of the day.

Of course the end of the day neared, at about 10 minutes prior to closing, I call up the BMW store and was promptly informed that she had gone home for the day, but that she would be in the office early tomorrow morning.

The next day comes, I call up the office and she's apparently out of town now. Needless to say, I've learned the hard way that canadian dealerships treat US imported cars like crap.
---


Coles notes: bmw store has terrible service and reprehensible practices, my car makes funny noises in first gear and I can't figure out why.

Besides Nixon there is CG Motorsports.

Is your car still under warranty?

Hi craziegsr yea my car has warranty until August this year

Make a run across the boarder and go to a US dealership.

You don't need to go to a US dealership - the warranty is valid in Canada. We use Brian Jessel BMW and they are very good to us - my service advisor is Jackie Lai and you can get him at 604-293-2574.

Mark

I've been thinking of doing that, but my schedule is quite hectic right now. I was told by the guys at Nixon and from the people that I purchased the cat from that I could get warranty work done up here. Also sites anyone have an idea of what could be causing the issue? I'd prefer to not have to hunt around blindly you find out the cause.

who needs a shop? get falcon to DIY fix it. he can do anything

If it's under warranty, let them deal with the headache. You might make things worse by trying to figure out the issue so that if you do decide to go to the dealership, they will give you even more headache and try to crucify you for the repair. I am sure that a particular individual who is a customers relations at Brian Jessel and a member of rs will chime in to help you out if he sees this. He's been awesome to me and he's the only reason why I am willing to go back there for services etc.

People tell me the us warranty is transferrable or valid in Canada too when I was shopping for mine a couple of months ago. BJ can arrange to pick up your car from you at any specified location and loan you a courtesy car if your schedule is too busy. Might be worth looking into. If you want the contact info of the customers relations individual, pm me.

as long as the car hasnt been written off or had anything done to it to lose the warranty, the US cars would still have their factory warranties honored by BMW canada.

had a couple ex-US 335i's come in for warranty work.

My old 325 had a similar issue. Problem? Loose battery connection!

As far as I know, you need a letter from BMW Canada before they'll do warranty work up here.

Warranty still applies in Canada for US BMWs, just not the maintenance services.

You got PM, OP.:)

I was usually always happy with Park Shore Bmw, but recently I feel that they are falling in quality.

I'm sorry about your experience at The BMW Store. Garrett was always my advisor at Park Shore. Great guy! and i'm ready to make to make the move to the BMW Store just for him as he's always been great with me with particular work needed.

Other BMW Specialized shops include:
-CG Motorsports in Richmond
-German Auto Sports in Surrey

Hey dude,

As already mentioned and looks like you've already tried to explore this option once with an unfortunate experience with one dealer, but absolutely go through the dealer. The car is under warranty and they need to figure this out.

Another really stupid question but it's definitely happening at 4000rpm? That subaru sounds like it has a launch limiter installed. Reason I ask is it almost sounds like you're hitting the limiter (with the movie posted above) but obviously it shouldn't be happening at 4k rpm. You said it happens intermittently and only when you drive aggressively, are you sure you're not hitting the limiter in redline? Again I'm sure this isn't the case but sounds possible. If you're definitely at 4k I feel like the car computer "thinks" you're at redline and is cutting power and needs assessment.

Autowest always sorted out my issues when I had warranty work done but that was 5 years ago now and things change so quickly it seems, even with big dealers.

Also BMW Store works with Platinum Touch Auto Spa (atleast their cars are always there when I'm at Platinum for a wash). If they won't let you choose your own and only give you this option, don't feel like you should refuse, they've always treated my car very well and wash/detail exotics regularly (Bentleys, Ferraris, Lambo, etc). But of course, push for choosing your own since only you know what you like.

Goodluck dude

Valley Eurotech - I know it's a bit of a drive (Abbotsford) - but they definately know whats up.

No. Just No. Please do not post information unless you know what you are posting is correct, that's how these types of nonsense rumours get started.

Mark

My bad, was thinking recall letter

its just maintenance warranty that doesnt work in CAN if its a US car, that or unless its been flagged for anything before. the bmw dealership should be able to scan your key, and or get the info off the bmw site for what warranty items were done, approved or disapproved.

you will need to go to the specific bmw dealer if it was anything that wasnt warranty. that info doesnt get accessed dealer to dealer, basically internal. but warranty items shouldnt be a problem.

i think anything related to exhaust and emissions is 8 year. the hpfp went thru i believe 4 different part #'s, either redesigns or remans.

the CEL or MIL light has 2 stages, yellow and red. either one will get tripped for the easiest of things, so dont be too alarmed unless ur car is driving like crap. usual symptoms of the HPFP fail is sluggish, hardstart, and the dreaded limp mode.

Hi Topaz, it happens above 4000 rpm to the redline, where in it actually occurs in the rev range is random. The sounds/behaviour only shows up in first gear and its just a brief rough revving noise.. then the car continues on its merry way.

I'm heading to Brian Jessel this thursday to take a service tech on a drive to show the issue, so hopefully this issue will be resolved asap.
Thanks again everyone for all the input, I'll be heading to BJ BMW hopefully to get this issue sorted out. As for the detailing/damage issue, this is probably the first time I've experienced such a complete lack of respect, to even return calls. It's a really minor issue, but its really been stressing me out, everytime I look at the car I just purchased I can see swirls and scratches all over the place. Granted when I purchased the car, the exterior condition was not excellent but I spent the necessary funds to make sure that the exterior was clean and nearly scratch free. Not only did my car come back with more damage, I suspect the first time the vehicle was in for a prepurchase inspection the lot handlers already damaged the car, as it came back with a big nasty ding just ahead of the rear wheel well. Then to have them the new damage was already on the vehicle, or insinuate that I had caused the damage just added insult to injury. Normally, I'm quite pleasant and easy to work with, but just all these minor annoyances, combined with the dismissive attempts at customer service are beyond irksome. At this point, I'm just needlessly venting as I intend to never return to bmw store, and to inform all of my friends/relatives to purchase their vehicles elsewhere. It's almost gotten to the point where I almost regret moving into a bmw as the level of service provided by bmw store is, beyond the worst I have ever experienced at a dealership.

As for BMW Store, granted Garrett made a mistake but just how the issue was handled afterwards, paired with the additional damage done to my vehicle and their attempts to pass the buck back to me really put a damper on my experience with the car thus far. They had offered me to get the car 'shiny' at their detailer, Platinum I assume, but the damage done to my paint is immense.

I have never seen so many scratch marks created by a machine wash ever, as I have swirled streaks of scratches running from one end of the car to the other which show up in good lighting conditions. It's painful to see, as I had already gotten the car's paint in almost near mint condition after getting it detailed by Ken at autowerks exclusive. Now the exterior is in even worse condition than when I first bought it from urban garage. I highly doubt bmw store is willing to pay the cost it'll take to fix the massive amount of scratches in my clearcoat paint. If anything they probably think it'll just be a simple wash and light wax job, but the damage caused by their machine wash is just insane. Its not so much the cost, but the principle of the matter wherein my car was returned to me in much worse condition than when it went in. Worst comes to worse, I'll just have to put down a good chunk of change again to hopefully restore my car to its former lustre.

Corin the fat woman doesn't know how to treat the customers! She used to work at MB Broadway and my car had difficulties with some warranty work approval by her a few years ago. She started working at BMW Store around June last year and the service experience at BMW store turned to the same as MB Broadway. Corey the old service manager was way better...

i know its probably out of your way, but it would be best to go to The BMW Store yourself to discuss what they owe you if you really want anything out of it.

Talk to them in a calm manner, but maybe speak up. They might have customers around so clearly explain the problems they have caused you.

I'm guessing you have a black car?

I hope you get the car sorted out! good luck

You got warranty, so stay with dealer.

Perhaps switch dealer though?

Just posting an update mainly to thank Tim (Dinan3) and my service advisor Hossein for coming through, and proving that there are still people/dealerships out there who operate with integrity and honesty.

For whatever, reason somewhere along the line a previous dealership which had worked on the car, either removed or forgot to place back bolts in various components of the vehicle as well, which was promptly identified and remedied by the service tech's and Brian Jessel.

Again i'd like to thank Brian Jessel BMW and Tim for providing beyond exemplary service and resolving the mechanical issues I had with the vehicle. While avoiding hyperbole, it is safe to say if I purchase a BMW in the future it will be through Brian Jessel BMW.

Glad it got sorted out dude. So what ended up being the issue??